Faces Of The Day

Romney's speech, an on-message repeat of his economy-only campaign theme, didn't seem to go over that well in the NAACP crowd. Money quote:

"I believe his vested interests are in white Americans," said Charlette Stoker Manning, chair of Women in NAACP. "You cannot possibly talk about jobs for black people at the level he's coming from. He's talking about entrepreneurship, savings accounts — black people can barely find a way to get back and forth from work." Pointing to what she sees as Romney's lack of interaction with the poor African-Americans, Manning added, "It's such a big gap in what he's attempting to sell us." …

Dedrick Muhammad, the director of the NAACP Economic Department, chalked up the perceived tone-deafness to the fact that Romney spends most of his time on the campaign trail talking to white, middle-class audiences in rural and suburban areas. "He knew to bring up great civil rights stalwarts and quote them, but he still seems to have great distance in understanding the needs of our community," said Muhammad. "Instead of just throwing out buzzwords — 'charter schools,' 'free enterprise' — you can't just say that to us and get a positive reception."

But I think he gets points for showing up.

(Photo: People listen to US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) annual convention in Houston on July 11, 2012. By Nicholas Kamm/Getty. Buzzfeed rounded up more images.)